The average berry has 200 seeds, the only fruit whose seeds are on its exterior surface! The seeds are really the fruit!

Usually grown from runner daughters, they will grow from seed. Just throw down caps you bit the berry from. Sooner or later, you will have a plant you didn’t ‘plant.’ Strawberry seed saving is simple.

Eight out of 10 strawberries grown in the U.S. are grown in California!

Strawberries came in second to blueberries in the USDA’s analysis of antioxidant capacity of 40 fruits and vegetables. They are also rich in dietary fiber and manganese, and contain more vitamin C than any other berry.

Image courtesy of StrawberryPlants.org

When do I plant strawberries? Not now, NOVEMBER 1 to 10! Yes, it’s that specific for winter chill at the perfect time! They start producing runners now, but cut them off until early July! Then let them grow, and cut off the new baby plants mid October for November planting. Or, just let them grow to fill spots where, for one reason or another, a plant has gone missing, needs replacing, and/or another could fit in. When those needs are taken care of, cut off the rest of the runners. These runner plant babies will grow so fast you will be getting berries from them late summer and fall if you have everbearers/day neutral types!!

My plant isn’t producing….
Variety – If it is an everbearer, day neutral, variety it will produce almost all year. June/spring bearers put out a prolific batch in June, then it’s over. No amount of care or feeding is going to make that plant have berries after June. Sorry. Best to get the varieties your local nursery carries. Or talk with them about special ordering well in advance, so they can get the ones you want.Temps – cold weather slows down pollinators.Shaded – believe me, strawberries like all-day sun! If you are going to tuck them in among other plants, be sure to put them on the sunny side!Hungry – think about it! A strawberry plant is often pumping out several berries at a time! They are using up soil nutrition, so feed them! Try a light solution of fish emulsion/kelp every other week over some sprinkled seabird guano or a well aged manure. Give your strawberries a little fertilizer in the 0-10-10 proportions; that’s lots of phosphorus and potassium for strong roots and uptake of nutrients, blooms and fruits!Water – don’t let them dry out, they will stop producing. This month they tend to grow more leaves, send out runners. Clip off the runners for now, so they don’t take your plant’s energy away from producing berries, unless you want more plants right away.Mulching is good. They love pine needle mulch, if you have some about, because they prefer slightly acidic soil. Drape your berries over pine cones to keep them off the ground, out of the slug zone.Age – First year plants and 3rd year plants don’t produce as well.
My berries are really tiny! Strawberry varieties vary from mammoth chocolatiers, to midget but mighty tasty alpines. If it isn’t a variety issue, it may be diseased. See below please.

Misshapen berries or split in two sections with a hole in the center Irregular watering Your berry grows fast when it has water, then is restricted when it doesn’t….Western Tarnished Plant Bugs, feed on the flowers and developing surface seeds that stimulate growth causing misshapen berries, hard clusters of yellow seeds on the tip of the fruit. Clean up debris. Once you see this, you are too late to prevent it any further. Bummer. UC Davis IPM Integrated Pest Management on Lygus Hesperus. Image of typical cat-faced berries.Pollination Strawberry flowers are usually open and attractive to bees only a day or less. Temperatures below 60F, low night temperatures, & high humidity result in inadequate pollination, low yields of small or misshapen fruit. Strawberries require multiple pollination for perfect fruit formation. Generally, as the number of pollinator visits increases, there will be an increase in fruit set, number of seed per fruit, fruit shape, and fruit weight. ABOUT BEES: per NCSU ‘Bees rarely fly when the temperature is below 55°F. Flights seldom intensify until the temperature reaches 70°F. Wind speed beyond 15 miles per hour seriously slows bee activity. Cool, cloudy weather and threatening storms greatly reduce bee flights. In poor weather, bees foraging at more distant locations will remain in the hive, and only those that have been foraging nearby will be active. Pumpkin, squash, and watermelon flowers normally open around daybreak and close by noon; whereas, cucumbers, strawberries, and muskmelons generally remain open the entire day.’ So if the weather isn’t right THE DAY OR MORNING your flower opens…..

Whole plant has yellow leaves. The most common cause is nutrient deficiencies due to overwatering. Overwatering causes poor root growth making it difficult to move enough water to the leaves during hot weather. Lay back on watering; give your babies some Nitrogen –fish emulsion/kelp.

Rebecca & David Barker, Pilgrim Terrace Community Garden, Plot 41, staked the chicken wire in place, push it up to harvest, down to just the right height when done!

Holes in them, Chewed Silvery slime trails are the giveaway! Use the pine cones to drape your berries over to keep them off the ground. Put down some Sluggo or the like, to kill off night-time nibblers, slugs, snails. Harvest regularly before the berry gets soft and smelly, just before the buglets are attracted! Those little black pointy worms? I’m trying to find out what they are. If you know, let me know, ok?!Uprooted Sad to say, that sounds like ‘possums, raccoon, or skunk. They are looking for your earth worms or grubs. Just like bunnies, these critters won’t jump a low barrier. They just go around it. So install a foot tall perimeter of wire pieces, black plastic plant flats, old trellis parts, whatever you have around, or go get something that looks good to you so you will be happy. Relocating the critters is a good choice because, they do have children, that have children, that…

Angular Leaf Spot – exactly that. Spotted leaves. A cosmetic problem until it isn’t. Your plant will produce, but it won’t thrive. Spread by water, harvest before you water, water under the leaves, remove badly spotted leaves, don’t use them as mulch, wash your hands before going on to another plant.Strawberry Blight – the fungus is often confused with angular leaf spot, overwinters in old leaves, remove them. Remove old leaves from runner plants before setting. All day sun, well-drained soil, in an area with circulation, equals less fungus. For good air circulation, plant far enough apart, remove weeds, remove, replant and/or give away runner baby sets. Plant resistant varieties for your area of your state. Discussion of SoCal varieties. When you buy new plants be sure they are certified from a disease-free nursery. If you use a fungicide, spray the underside of leaves as well as the tops.

Successful SoCal varieties!

Chandler is the most widely commercially grown strawberry in California. High yield, early producer, large southern berry. It’s a June bearer, so if you want year round supply, this is not your berry.Seascape is an ever-bearing, big day neutral, all year strawberry, harvests are more abundant in late spring. High yield, resistant to most diseases except leaf spot. Reliable producer in fall, performs well in hot, dry climates. Berry is bright red inside and out!Oso Grande Another June bearer, high yield big berry, good in warm climates.

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At this time of year, plant from transplants. Or. Put in some from transplants at the same time as you put in some seeds. That is equivalent to about a 6 week succession planting pattern. Now through February, plant peas every month for continuous crop.

Inoculate your seeds if you haven’t grown peas there for the last 3 years. If you had an area where peas grew well last year, grab some handfuls of that soil and put it where you are planting this year! Rhizobia makes for abundant production. Just sprinkle it on the seeds when you plant! At Island Seed & Feed, one T of inoculant for 6 LBS of pea seeds is only $2! It’s where the bulk seeds are.

No manure, or very lightly, for peas, they make their own N (Nitrogen). That’s what legumes do!

Peas germinate well at 40 to 75 degrees F, but the colder, the slower. Pre-sprouting is fair, in fact, makes sense! Sprouted seed will grow in soils too cool for germination. YES! Don’t you love it?! Easy peasy has true meaning here. Wet a paper towel on a plate, arrange your seeds on one half of the towel, not touching each other, fold the other half over. Put them in a zip plastic bag, seal. Put on a spot that maintains about 70 degrees. Check those pups daily, add a wee bit of water, spray the paper towel, if needed. Your peas will sprout in 4 or 5 days! Soon as they sprout, put them carefully into the garden, right below the soil level. Gently firm the soil so they have good contact. If any fail, start another round to fill the gaps.

Space your pea babies about 2 inches apart. If you are putting in seeds, put them in about an inch apart, then thin when they are of a likely height that looks like their survival is assured.

Birds? If those walk-abouts are a bother, get some of that garden netting, or lay or prop those narrow patterned plastic plant flats over them. When you aren’t using the netting on your peas, in spring & summer use it to cover your strawberries.

Water. They like it. Every day until seeds are germinated, then once a week deeply.

Now we are back to the trellis. When your plants are 1 foot to 1 ½ feet high, start weaving twine through/around them to secure them against winds and rain-heavy weight. Those cute little tendrils just aren’t enough to hold them. Before wind, rains, are predicted, check everybody to be sure all is secure.

Stinky Onions?! You bet! Onions are sensitive to temperature and day length, photothermoperiodic! Whew! They start bulbing only after enough daylight for a certain number of days. To avoid bolting, in SoCal we need to plant seeds of short day onions in fall, or intermediate varieties in late winter. Most sets are long-day types and won’t work. Plant Grano, Granex, & Crystal Wax seeds in the ground Nov 1, today, to Nov 10, or bare root in January. Granex stores a little better, all of them are sweet like Vidalia and Maui. If you miss this window, plant intermediate onions in Feb. Onion seeds sprout very easily!

Garlic is so easy – separate the cloves, plant in full sun, about 1 to 2 inches deep in rich humusy soil, points up, 4 inches apart. That’s it! Water and wait, water and wait….

Strawberries Anytime! But which kind? There are 3 types of strawberries. Deciding on whether to plant June Bearing, Everbearing, or Day Neutral strawberries depends on your available space, size of preferred strawberries and how much work you want to put into the strawberries.

Everbearing (spring, summer, fall) and Day Neutral (unaffected by day length and will fruit whenever temperatures are high enough to maintain growth) are sweet and petite. They will not need much space and both are great for plant hangers. If you choose to plant them in the garden, be prepared to spend time weeding and fertilizing the plants. Everbearing: ♦ Sequoia, medium, heavy producer Day Neutral/Everbearing: ♦ Seascape, large

June Bearing, mid June, strawberries produce a nice, large and sweet berry. Because they only produce for 2 to 3 weeks, there is not so much work to take care of them. You do, however, need space because of the runners. They are classified into early, mid-season and late varieties. ♦ Chandler, large, high yield, large quantities of small fruit later in season ♦ Short day, Camarosa is large. It can be picked when fully red, and still have a long shelf life. This variety represents almost half of California’s current commercial acreage. ♦ Short day, Oso Grande is a firm, large berry, with a steadier production period than Chandler.

Do not plant strawberries where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant have been grown in the past four years, because these crops carry the root rot fungus Verticillium which also attacks strawberries

Commercial growers replace their plants each year. FOR THE BIGGEST AND MOST ABUNDANT STRAWBERRIES, REPLACE PLANTS EACH YEAR…

Strawberry Runners! Mid Oct cut off runners, gently dig up if they have rooted, shake the soil off. Clip all but two or three leaves off, tie ‘em together in loose bunches. Plastic bag them and put in the back of your fridge for 20 days. Plant them Nov 5 to 10!

Prechilling your plants makes them think they had a cold winter. When days get longer and warmer, they will produce fruit, not as much vegetative growth. You can then either keep your plants that produced this year, or remove and compost them, start fresh with new plants! Online you will read to pluck the flowers from first year plants, letting them get well established, then getting a great 2nd year crop. Commercial growers plant new plants every year and harvest those first year plants.

Can you plant strawberries from seed? Sure! When I eat strawberries at the garden, I leave a little flesh on my strawberry tops, toss them into a dampish spot in the garden. When the birds or bugs have gotten to one too much for me to eat, or I missed it under leaves, and it is too past its prime, I push back the soil right at the surface, pop the strawberry in, leaving the top of it just barely covered. Just like planting tiny lettuce seeds, just barely covered. The decaying fruit is a perfect medium for growth! Here and there, later on, I find new plants starting that didn’t come from runners! The more deliberate way of doing this might be to take a package of strawberries you didn’t eat in time, slice ’em, if they are still sliceable, and plant them.

Or, just buy a pack of seeds at the nursery and go for it, September and April being the best times of year to plant them! First, put them in the fridge or freezer for 2 weeks. This will improve the percentage of seeds that will germinate, when you plant them. Freezing stimulates the natural process of the seed going through the winter months and will help jump start the strawberry seeds when you plant them. Since the seeds are tiny, and sprouts will be very tiny, be sure to mark off that area so you will water very gently there, with your sprinkler can, so you don’t wash them away. No flooding, ok? Just keep them moist.

How many seeds are on the average strawberry? 200! Save your own! J Smith says: ‘Looking at a strawberry, you can see on average about 200 “seeds” per strawberry, which sit in its skin around the outside. To a botanist, however, these are not seeds but tiny individual fruits. Still, the strawberry is not considered to be a true berry because it does not have its seeds on the inside, like other berries do.’

Transplants are easier and more sure; seeds are less expensive. Either way, happy eating – strawberries are low in calories, high in Vitamin C!